What’s on: June
June 2017
Rick Stein’s Sunset Cinema, Cliveden House, 21 June – 11 July
Lose the remote, quit the Netflix bingeathon, because Rick Stein’s Sunset Cinema is almost here. No soggy nachos, just Ricks Stein’s amaaaazing nosh and a classic movie watched in the Spa Garden at Cliveden House. It will be a night to remember. Many nights are sold out, but there are still tickets available on Thurs 22 June (Almost Famous); Fri 23 June (La La Land); Wed 28 June (Forrest Gump); Thurs 29 June (About Time), Fri 7 July (The Great Gatsby).
Rick Stein’s Sunset Cinema, The Pop Up Picture Company, Cliveden House Hotel, Taplow, Berkshire SL1 8NS popuppicturecompany.co.uk
Reginald D Hunter, The Concert Hall Reading, Sat 3 June
If you haven’t come across Reginald D Hunter, where have you been? A regular on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, he is laugh-until-you cry funny, achingly cool and a real go-for-broke comedian. Like all funnymen these days, he loves to ruffle feathers with his searingly honest jibes and is known for dropping the ‘N’ bomb… a lot. See the great man from Georgia perform his hotly-anticipated new show at The Concert Hall reading. Tickets £25.
The Gingerbread Man, The Watermill Newbury, Sat June 3
Life is sweet when the sun shines and it doesn’t get my saccharin than The Gingerbread Man at The Watermill Theatre. An interactive theatre show performed by Lizzie Lewis, your littlies will be totally blown away as Georgie the Gingerbread Man enlists their help to escape the wood. Expect lots of furry friend encounters and theatrical tension as adventure unfolds. Suitable for kids aged 2-6, it starts at 10amin the Lily Pond Conservatory. Tickets £6.
Open air cinema, Swan at Streatley, Thur 8 June
Stunning riverside location, Top Gun on the big screen, and gourmet street food and cocktails on tap… Sign me up! They Swan at Streatley is hosting its first ever open cinema event. Literally giddy with excitement. I bloody love this movie for all its cheesiness, gratuitous half-nakedness and bad singing. Take me to bed or lose me forever! (hang on, I’m just going to have a burger first, I’ve seen the Wandering Feast catering van).. Advance tickets £12.
Pam Ann, Hexagon Reading, Fri 9 June
The A-List queen of the skies, lands her Louboutin’s on international turf and will hit the tarmac running, with her 20th anniversary UK tour. Pam Ann has developed cult-status with her masterful portrayal of a brash hot mess of an Australian airhostess. As the airports got bigger, so has her ego… and her mouth filthier. Enjoy the most politically incorrect flight path, with Pam’s blisteringly funny take on the world of airlines and aircrew. Tickets: 1st class £29; Business £26; Economy £23.
ROH LIVE: The Dream/ Symphonic Variations/ Marguerite & Armand, Corn Exchange Newbury, Wed 7 June
Super Hero Family Fun Day, Beale Park Lower Basildon, Sun 18 June
Holy Batman! Wear your big pants with pride, swing your capes over your shoulders and prepare for an action packed Superhero Family Fun Day at Beale Park. It’s Father’s Day too, so show the old man how much you love him by entering him into the 5km fun run and meet him at the finish line with a pint. Then simply load the kids up with candy floss and let them blow the sugar rush on the bouncy castle and funfair. Entry: £5 adults, £2 kids and free entry for under 12s. All registered runners will enter free of charge.
Royal Ascot 2017, Ascot Racecourse, Tues 20 – Sat 24 June
So many fashion rules to remember, but one of the great highlights of the social calendar is here. Royal Ascot has come around again, so grab your hat, keep the hemlines long, the fake tan light and enjoy a day of *cough* sunshine, celeb spotting and apparently there are few horses running too. It’s the perfect place to people watch, just don’t overdo the bubbles for fear of making it onto the front page of the Daily Mail. Tickets are still available from£37.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Stubbings House Maidenhead, Tues 20 – Sat 24 June
If you go down to the woods tonight, you’re in for a big surprise? Particularly if you’re in the woods near Stubbings House near Maidenhead. Mischievous fairies and star-crossed lovers, comic labourers, an ass-headed monster and a hungry lion will be performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream in aid of Child Bereavement UK. Have a picnic on the lawns from 5.30pm before being led up the garden path to see the Garden Players’ production. Tickets £18.
Offbeat Festival, Oxford, Fri 23 June – Sun 2 July
This ballet has had rave reviews and it’s guaranteed to be an emotional one. Set in a WW2 holocaust camp, two young boys become friends on opposite sides of the barbed wire fence, one prisoner, one officer’s son. The brilliant Northern Ballet present this heart breaking story through dance for the first time, but given the themes they advise taking secondary school kids and upwards.
atgtickets.com
A brilliant, local, fun and cost-effective alternative to Wimbledon held at the gorgeous five star hotel and country club of Stoke Park. It’s luxury all the way here, with Perrier-Jouët Champagne on ice and a gourmet lunch prepared by award winning chef, Chris Wheeler. There’s also a Boodles gallery of fine jewellery to gawp at – the Muddy girls tried half of it on last year while nervous assistants watched on.I should also mention that it’s a brilliant way to see top tennis players in a stadium of just 2000, so it’s like being in the first five rows at centre court. Already confirmed for this year are Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Krygios, Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric and Fabio Fognini (pictured). I think it’s important to see as much of the players as possible, don’t you?!
Stoke Park, Stoke Poges, Bucks, stokepark.com
The Little Welly Goes Wild, Henley, Sat 24 – Sun 25 June
Persil at the ready? Then I’ll begin. Bigger, better and muddier than ever, the UK’s biggest children’s obstacle course returns for the fourth year to the Culden Faw Estate in Henley. We’re talking 30 obstacles over a 3km course for kids 4+ (and they’re parents – sorry about that!) braving The Big Slide, Tyre Mangle, mud and water pits, Spider’s Web and bouncing round the foam pit. Away from the race’s there’s Laser Tag, Parkour demonstrations & workshops, pony rides, den building and bungee trampolining. Seriously good fun.
Giffords Circus, Any Port in a Storm, touring now until 24 Sept
This year the inimitable Giffords Circus is recreating a 17th-century Spanish court and putting on a candle-lit international gymnastic show with dancing horses, a live band and everyone’s favourite clown Tweedy. It’s moved from its Gloucestershire home into Oxfordshire for the next month – currently nestled in Kingham, it then heads off to Stonor Park and central Oxford before hitting the big bucks in London.
